Taipei, April 9 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian returned to Taipei Saturday after concluding his 48-hour "journey of peace and commemoration" that took him to the Vatican to attend Pope John Paul II's funeral.
In addition to joining presidents, prime ministers, royals and pilgrims from around the world in bidding farewell to the pope, Chen also became the first sitting Republic of China president ever to set foot in Europe.
After his history-making visit, Chen had a diplomatic rendezvous with his Honduran counterpart, Ricardo Maduro, at Da Vinci Airport in Rome. Maduro had also traveled from his country to the Vatican to attend the pope funeral.
Chen held a closed-door meeting with Maduro at a VIP room before they boarded a China Airlines (CAL) charter plane bound for Taiwan. It marked the first time that a CAL charter plane has ever carried two heads of state at the same time.
Maduro, who has been to Taiwan several times, will travel from Taiwan to the Japanese island of Okinawa to attend an annual conference of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration later in the day.
Chen arrived in Rome early Friday to attend the pope's funeral, making him the first incumbent ROC president ever to visit the Vatican since the two countries established formal diplomatic ties in 1942. Chen is also the first serving ROC president ever to set foot in Europe. The Vatican is the ROC's only diplomatic ally in Europe.
After the funeral, Chen paid a visit to the ROC Embassy in the Vatican, which is an estate of the Holy See. In addition to looking at the embassy facilities, he gave a brief pep talk to boost the morale of all embassy staff.
Chen then dined with members of a pro-Taiwan group in the Italian parliament, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, influential Italian politicians, as well as staff members of the ROC Embassy in the Vatican and the ROC Representative Office in Italy.
Addressing the occasion, Chen called for leniency and reconciliation among political parties at home and between the two sides of Taiwan Strait. "Only leniency and reconciliation will pave the way for harmony among the different political parties and ethnic groups, and is the cornerstone for peace with China," Chen said.
Members of Chen's entourage included Minister of Foreign Affairs Tan Sun Chen and three religious leaders.